The role of polyphosphoinositides in cellular signalling is well known and recently it has also been shown that the nucleus is a site for both synthesis and hydrolysis of the phosphorylated forms of phosphatidylinositol. It has been demonstrated that phospholipase C specific for inositol lipids (PLC) is one of the main steps of the inositol lipid cycle. The PLC beta family, and especially type beta 1, has given rise to considerable interest since, due to their common COOH-terminus they show nuclear localisation in addition to that at the plasma membrane. It is well established that an autonomous intranuclear inositide cycle exists, and that this cycle is endowed with conventional lipid kinases, phosphatases and PLCs. Among this latter the beta 1 type undergoes stimulation or inhibition under different stimuli and this implicates the beta 1 isoform as a key enzyme for mitogen-activated cell growth as well as for differentiation. Indeed, both the overexpression and the down-regulation of PLC beta 1, by means of antisense mRNA, have demonstrated that PLC plays a role in the nuclear compartment.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nuclear expression of diacylglycerol kinases: possible involvement in DNA replication.

The existence of intranuclear lipid-dependent signal transduction systems has been demonstrated by several independent groups. Remarkably, intranuclear lipid-dependent signal transduction pathways are regulated independently from their membrane/cytosolic counterparts. A sizable body of evidence suggests that nuclear lipid signaling controls critical biological functions such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Diacylglycerol (DG) is a fundamental lipid second messenger which is produced in the nucleus. Since the levels of nuclear DG fluctuate during the cell cycle progression, it has been suggested that this lipid second messenger has important regulatory roles. Most likely, nuclear DG serves as a chemoattractant for some isoforms of protein kinase C that migrate to the nucleus in response to a variety of agonists. The nucleus also contains diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs), i.e. the enzymes that, by converting DG into phosphatidic acid (PA), terminate DG-dependent events. This review aims at highlighting the different isozymes of DGKs present within the nucleus as well as at discussing their potential functions with particular emphasis placed on DNA replication.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Epidemiological study of the incidence of surgical thyroid diseases in the Sardinia region 1977-1979].

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Adenoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nuclear inositol lipid cycle: a new central intermediary in signal transduction.

The involvement of phospholipids and especially polyphosphoinositides in cellular signalling has been documented in detail over the last 20 years. Besides the membrane localisation the nucleus also has been show to be a site for both the synthesis and hydrolysis of the phosphorylated forms of phosphatidylinositol. Previous observations dealing with signal transduction have established phospholipase C, specific for inositol lipids (PLC), an important step in the inositol lipid cycle. Of the several known PLC isoforms the type beta 1 is of particular interest because of its reported nuclear localisation, in addition to its presence at the plasma membrane. Indeed, investigations from our laboratory and others have shown the existence in several cell types of an autonomous intranuclear inositide cycle endowed with both conventional lipid kinases and PLC. Moreover, both the stimulation and the inhibition of the nuclear PLC beta 1 under different stimuli implicate this PLC isoform as a key enzyme for mitogen-activated cell growth as well as for differentiation. These findings have prompted us to better characterise the nuclear PLC beta 1. The isoform beta 1 has been studied as a possible target for anti-cancer drugs and as an inducer, via diacylglycerol generation, of the translocation of specific protein kinase C (PKC) isozyme to the nucleus. The chromosome mapping of PLC beta 1 gene has been carried out and the effect of its knock-out by means of antisense cDNA has been determined.

3T3 Cells↗